XG15 Preview: Street Wise
Van Homan helped define BMX street for a generation of riders who now stand between him and X Games gold.
Street Wise
It's hard to believe that 29-year-old Homan is now the "old guy" in BMX street at the X Games, but years have a way of flying, especially when those years are spent jumping off roofs and grinding 8-foot tall dumpsters. It seems like just yesterday that Homan skipped out of senior prom early to drive six hours south and ride in X Games dirt qualifiers. That was, in fact, 11 years ago.
Rob Dolecki/Dig BMXJust another 180 barspin over a handrail near Van Homan's home in Pennsville, N.J. Gallery »In the time since, the Pennsville, N.J., native has forged a path as one of BMX's most influential, pioneering and devoutly-brave street riders. It all started with Homan's introductory part in the 1998 Little Devil Clothing video "Seek and Destroy." The video captured Homan outside of the dirt contest realm, riding trails, street, skateparks and whatever got in his way, with no regard for his own safety. His segment is a search for the eternal handrail, with Homan grinding up rails, down rails and clearing huge gaps to rails that no one else even considered. Before "Seek and Destroy," Homan was considered an up-and-coming dirt jumper. After the video's release, he gained respect as an aggressive and burly street innovator. To this day, the video is viewed as one of the most influential BMX videos of all time, in large part because of "Van's lust for difficulty and danger," as Ride Magazine so bluntly put it.
Ten years ago, Van was doing things we're just now figuring out.
--Aaron Ross
Never one to rest on his laurels, Homan continued to attack the dirt and skatepark competition circuit throughout the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, placing well both in U.S. and international competitions. But he was riding just as progressively outside of the contest realm, returning in 2001 to grab the closing section in Little Devil's "Criminal Mischief" video. Supplemented by a steady diet of Wawa Iced Tea and Ozzy Osbourne, Homan redefined street riding, using an equal amount of bike skill and courage to land another legendary video part in the BMX record books. He continued his onslaught of any handrail in his path, upping the ante with dangerous combinations like a never-before-seen manual to gap to second stage grind on a kinked rail near Love Park in Philadelphia. Grinding the rail is a feat in itself, but flying at it, jumping onto it and balancing a manual to the bottom is something that will never be duplicated as long as the exists. It's safe to say Homan defied serious injury, or even death, to get several of his shots in "Criminal Mischief." Eight years later it remains on the short list of the sport's best segments.
Following the release of "Criminal Mischief," Homan could have walked away for ten years while the rest of the BMX world struggled to catch up with his riding. But that's not Homan's style. Instead, he stopped doing dirt competitions and focused his efforts more on smaller jam-based park contests, along with more video parts. Homan also switched sponsors, moving away from corporate-backed giants Schwinn and Airwalk in favor of BMX-based brands owned and operated by close friends. The new focus, and his considerable reputation, resulted in four successive Number One Rider Awards from Ride BMX Magazine, between 2001 and 2004. All the while, he produced stand-out segments for Fit Bike Co. and received an unprecedented seven invitations to participate in the notorious Props Road Fools videos. And then, it was time for Homan to go home.
Homan had been living west of Philadelphia, but in the summer of 2006 he moved back to Pennsville, buying a house not far from where he grew up. Spurred by a need to give back to the BMX community, he also opened up a new BMX shop dubbed Twobyfour. "The market was flooded with cool companies, but not enough shops to put it out there to kids. I feel like a shop creates a community and a way better scene. That's what I wanted to start," Homan said.
That was three years ago and Twobyfour hasn't stopped growing since. The shop hosts team demos, video premieres, poker tournaments and more. Fully stocked with a range of complete bikes, frames, components, accessories and soft goods, the shop helped spawn a burgeoning BMX community in Pennsville. More recently, Twobyfour has opened a second shop on South Street in downtown Philadelphia. For a professional rider, it's quite the workload to juggle, but Homan only that much more motivated but his decision to take the route of building a community around a BMX shop. "I've never put myself above work or getting my hands dirty. That's what I'm doing now, the 9 to 5, and I ride before, or after, or on my day off. And that makes me appreciate everything that much more," he said.
At last year's X Games, the decision was made by event organizers that the BMX competition needed to reflect the ever-growing popularity of pure street riding. A course was assembled atop the Staples Center parking structure featuring gaps, ledges and rails. The call went out to the world's most progressive street riders that X Games BMX Street had been added to the schedule. And the world's most progressive street riders responded. The field included Garrett Reynolds, who was about to amaze with his groundbreaking Nike 6.0 segment; Aaron Ross, who can barspin and tailwhip out of any grind possible and Corey Martinez, who lays claim to some of the most progressive street lines ever done. And then there was the rider who influenced them all: Homan.
"Ten years ago, Van was doing things we're just now figuring out," Ross said. "He's the best street rider and my favorite rider to watch. And I would have said that when I was 15, too."
But Homan didn't just show up to receive accolades from his peers. He destroyed the course, and if he hadn't spent precious time trying to nail his final trick—a huge gap to manual to rail ride to barspin out—while Reynolds was sticking a variety of grinds that piled up on judges scorecards, Homan would have taken home the top prize. Homan missed gold by mere tenths of a point.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. Before last year, Homan had a house in the suburbs, a successful business, a legendary riding career still going strong and just about everything he needed. He had long since moved on from the X Games, and now the X Games wants to hand out a gold medal to the rider who represents street's raw progression. So, in just two weeks, Homan will be back for X Games 15. He might be the "old guy," but he knows age is just a number. And besides, it if wasn't for Homan's contributions to the world of BMX street, none of this would've happened in the first place.
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